Advantages and disadvantages

Some benefits of OER include:

  • Fosters pedagogical innovation and relevance that avoids teaching from the textbook
  • Broadens use of alternatives to textbooks while maintaining instructional quality
  • Encourages pedagogical innovation
  • Lowers costs of course materials for students
  • Contribution to a community
  • Method of collaboration
  • Helpful to future educators

Some disadvantages of OER include:

  • Quality of available OER materials inconsistent
  • Need to check accuracy before use
  • Materials may not meet Section 508 ADA accessibility or SCORM requirements and must be modify to bring into compliance
  • No common standard for review of OER accuracy and quality
  • Teachers sometimes not rewarded by the system for their efforts
  • Need to check accuracy of content
  • Customization necessary to match departmental and/or college curriculum requirements
  • Technical requirements to access vary
  • Technological determinism created by the delivery tool

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